Crimping of filaments



May 28, 1957 J. H. PFAU CRIMPING OF FILAMENTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 6, 1953 ATTOiYS I I May 28, 1957 J. H. PFAU 2,793,418

CRIMPING 0F FILAMENTS Filed Aug. 6, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Tuqlib INVENTOR.

4 (754/05 fif PFAU- ATTORNEYS:

May 28, 1957 J. H. PFAU 2,793,418

CRIMPING 0F FILAMENTS Filed Aug.' 6, 1953 4 Sheats-Sheet. 4

INVENTOR. Ji/c/z/s 6 PFAU A'ITORNEYS."

United States Patent "ice CRIMPING 0F FILAMENTS Julius H. Pfau, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Bachmann Uxhridge Worsted Corporation, Uxbridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 6, 1953, Serial No. 372,634

12 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to the treatment of filaments and filament yarn to overcome their straight, smooth character and for crimping them, and to'apparatus for accomplishing the crimping. This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 279,173, filed March 28, 1952; and now abandoned.

Continuous synthetic filaments, such, for example, as nylon, rayon, acetate, vinyl resins, polyesters, acrylic and vinylidine chlorine filaments'are characterized by their straightness and to a large extent by the smoothness of their surfaces, and several such filaments when arranged in side-by-side relation in a yarn occupy a minimum of space and have comparatively few voids or air spaces between them. In making up fabric these qualities of continuous synthetic filaments and filament yarns are often a disadvantage and fabrics made with such filaments and filament yarns lack the fullnessor the handle or feel characteristic of fibers made with staple yarn.

The term filament yarn isused herein to describe a yarn comprising two or more, usually a number of, continuous synthetic filaments. The term staple yarn is used herein to describe yarn made up of short discontinuous fibers, such, for example, as the natural fibers including wool and cotton, and other short fibers formed from plastic materials.

It is an object of this invention to give to continuous filaments and filament yarns increased fullness and resilience. Y

Another object of the invention is to crimp synthetic filaments and filament yarns with a plurality of series of crimps.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and practical apparatus for crimping continuous synthetic filaments and filament yarns.

Another object of the invention is to provide filament yarn having fullness and feel similar to staple yarn.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof, all as will be pointed out in the following description, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims. p

The invention will best be understood if the following description is read in connection with 'the drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention; 7

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a plan view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear elevational view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a detail view showing in side elevation the rearsaddle; 1 1 v Patented May as, 1957 Figure 6 is a rear end View of the part shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a detail viewshowing in side elevation the front saddle;

Figure 8 is -a rear elevation of the part shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a detail view showing in side elevation the filament or yarn feed guide;

Figure 10 is a rear elevation of the part shown in Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a vertical section through the feed rolls and adjoining portion of the crimping chamber illustrating schematically and on an enlarged scale the crimping of a continuous filament with two series of bends;

Figure 12 is a schematic view illustrative of a filament yarn comprising two continuous filaments after crimping;

Figure 13 is a plan view showing a modification of the device to simultaneously process a plurality of filamentary yarns and 'to provide for extended travel of the yarns within the housing prior to reaching the feed roll-s;

Figure '14 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of Figure 13;

Figure 15 is a vertical section taken through the forward end of a front saddle member inserted between a pair of feed rolls;

Figure 16 is a perspective view showing the front end of the saddle and its internal passage;

Figure 17 is a front elevational view of a modification of the feed roll and front saddle combination;

Figure 18 is a plan view of the combination shown in Figure 17; and

Figure 19 is a side elevation of the modification of the invention shown in Figure 16.

In the embodiment of the invention shown herein a housing 10, which is preferably a substantially solid blocklike structure of heat conductive material, is provided with a passage, indicated generally by the numeral 12, extending from front to rear, and with recesses indicated generally by the numerals 14 and 16 for mounting, within the body of the structure, two pairs of rolls comprising respectively the feed rolls 18 and 20 and the discharge rolls 22 and 24. The front rolls 18 and 20 are wholly contained within the housing block, the upper roll 18 being adjustable toward or away from the lower roll 21 as will be explained. The discharge rolls 22 and 24 are spaced apart a greater distance than said feed rolls.

Within passage 12 there is provided a filament or yarn guide 26, shown in detail in Figures 9 and 10, which occupies the front portion of said passage, between the front end thereof and the nip of the feed rolls. Said guide has a bore 28 which is circular in cross section and tapered from front to rear for feeding filaments or filament yarn to and between'said feed rolls. Immediately behind the feed rolls in said passage 12 is a member 30 shown in detail in Figures 7 and 8, which is referred to herein as the front saddle. Said saddle 30 has a longitudinally extending bore 32 which is rectangular in cross section and slightly tapered to increase in size gradually from front to rear. Positioned in said passage 12 behind said front saddle, and extending from said front saddle to the discharge rolls, is a tubular member 34 which I refer to herein as the rear saddle. The bore 36 of rear saddle 34 is of circular cross section; of substantially larger diameter than the bore of said front saddle 30, and is tapered to increase in size gradually from front to rear. V

Mounted on the rear surface of said housing or block 10 are the pressure arms 38, spaced from the housing at its upper'end by spacers 40 and secured to said housing or block by screws 42 extending through said pressure arm and said spacers. Projecting inwardly from the free lower end of said arms 38 are the fingers 44 and 46 respectively, said fingers as shown herein having reduced ends 44a and 46:: respectively which are received into holes h extending through the pressure arm. Said fingers 44 and 46 are spaced apart a distance greater than the diameter of the bore 36 of rear saddle 34 and press against the rear end of the tubular wall comprising said rear saddle 34, on the opposite side of, and without obstructing bore 36. The lower end of pressure arms 38 are urged inwardly by spring assemblies each comprising a coil spring 48 mounted on a screw 50 which extends through a slot s in the pressure plate into said housing or block 10. The lower end of said screw 50 is threaded to engage in said housing or block. The upper end of said screw is preferably unthreaded and the said spring 48 is positioned around the upper portion of the screw between the outer surface of said pressure plate and the head of the screw, a washer 52 being desirably positioned between the inner end of the spring and the pressure plate and a washer 54 between the outer end of the spring and the head of the screw. The discharge rolls 22 and 24 are provided with the peripheral grooves 56, 58, and 60, 62 respectively. The grooves in one roll are positioned in vertical alignment with the respective grooves in the other roll and the side walls of the grooves are bevelled outwardly. The grooves in one roll thus complement the grooves in the other roll, defining at all times spaces extending axially of said passage 12 through which said fingers 44 and 46 extend into contact with the rear end of said rear saddle 34 which extends to a line joining the centers of said discharge rolls 22 and 24. By turning screws 50 the springs 48 respectively of the two spring assemblies shown in Figure 3 are adjusted to exert sufficient pressure against the front saddle 30, through pressure arm 38 and on rear saddle 34, to cause the front upper and lower curved surfaces 64 and 66 of the front saddle, and particularly the forward extremities thereof, to be positioned close enough to feed rolls 18 and 20 respectively to keep incoming filaments or yarns feeding through longitudinal bore 32 and prevent them from being interposed between the front saddle and said feed rolls 18 and 20, without preventing the free rotation of said feed rolls 18 and 20.

The feed and discharged rolls may desirably be inserted endwise into the recesses provided for them within said housing block 10. Feed roll 20 is shown mounted on input power shaft 68 mounted within suitable bearings b1 which are fitted into recesses provided for them within the housing block. Upper feed roll 18 is mounted in brackets 70 and 72 which are pivoted on opposite sides of the housing block on pivot pins 74 and 76 extending through said brackets adjacent their rear ends into recesses 78 and 80 respectively provided therefor in the housing block, the trunnions 82 and 84 of said feed roll 18 being received in bearings b2 provided in said brackets respectively. The brackets 70 and 72 are supported adjacent their front edges respectively by screw members 86 which extend through overhanging ends of a strap or pressure screw plate 90 extending across the top of the housing, the lower ends of said screws being received in recesses 92 extending inwardly from the upper edge of said brackets 70 and 72 respectively. On each of said screws is a coil spring member 96 interposed between the upper surface of said bracket and a spring lock assembly comprising the nuts 98 and 100 and the intermediate washer 102. By adjustment of said screw members 86 the brackets 70 may be pivoted to cause upper feed roll 18 to exert pressure on lower feed roll 20 to provide positive feed of the filament or filament yarn being fed into the apparatus.

Similar mounting means may be provided for discharge roll 22 for adjusting the space between the discharge rolls before the start of a crimping operation, as for example for crimping material of substantially different size.

The trunnions 104 and 106 of discharge roll 22 are mounted in bearings b3 provided within the housing and the respective ends of drive shaft 108, which carries discharge roll 24, are mounted in bearings b4 provided within the housing block.

In the operation of thetembodiment of my apparatus shown herein the feed rolls 18 and 20 are driven at a much higher speed than the discharge rolls, the ratio differing according to the material being treated, as will be explained. If desired both pairs of rolls may be driven by the same source of power with intermediate gearing to provide the desired speed differential. As illustrated herein, however, separate drives are provided, from gear 112 on input shaft 68, carrying feed roll 20, to the intermeshing gear 114 on trunnion 82, and from gear 120 on input shaft 108 to the intermeshing gear 122 on discharge roll 22.

For any given speed of the feed rolls 18 and 20 the Weight of a filament or filament yarn entering into the chamber provided by the portion of the passage 12 which is between the feed rolls and the discharge rolls is proportional to the size of the filament or filament yarn. Thus for example if a yarn being treated is 100 denier and the rate of speed is such as to supply 1 oz. of yarn per minute, 2 oz. per minute of 200 denier yarn will be supplied at the same speed. Because the discharge rolls are revolved very slowly in relation to the speed of the feed rolls the space or chamber between the entrance rolls and the discharge rolls is speedily filled with the yarn although the yarn is continuously discharged by the discharge rolls. The discharge rolls are spaced apart a greater distance than the feed rolls providing a slot-like discharge opening the width of which is the width of the bore 36 at its rear end and the height of which is the clearance between said discharge rolls.

In starting the apparatus a filament or filament yarn is threaded through the feed rolls and drawn through the chamber between discharge rolls to a winding spindle (not shown) reference to which is made in my co-pending application Serial No. 279,174, filed March 28, 1952. The feed rolls for this winding spindle are rotated at a surface speed approximately of the surface speed of the feed rolls of the crimper for the reason that the crimping reduces the length of the filament of yarn approximately 20%. However, when the device is first started there is no crimping action, in the absence of a mass of fibers within the chamber, and in consequence of the length of the filament yarn not being reduced there is a gradual accumulation of the filament or yarn within the chamber. As the mass of material accumulates within the chamber the number of crimps increases, in ac cordance with the pressure of the mass of material within the chamber with a proportionate decreasing in the length of the filament or yarn until the volume of material discharged in a given time interval becomes equal to the amount of material fed into the chamber in said time interval.

Thus an equilibrium is speedily established whereby the volume of the material within the chamber and the resultant back pressure of the material against the incoming filamentary yarn is substantially constant for a given relative speed of feed and discharge.

While rotation of the discharge rolls is desirable and provides better control of the tension on the filament yarn leaving the crimper my device may be usefully operated without rotating the discharge rolls, permitting the crimped material to simply be moved out of the slot provided at the end of the crimping passage by the spacing between the discharge rolls.

As shown in Figure 11 an incoming synthetic filament or filament yarn is forcibly fed against the mass of said filament or yarn accumulated within the chamber and the back pressure of said mass causes the incoming synthetic filament or yarn to be bent with bends a at intervals depending both on the nature of the synthetic filamentary material and the back pressure exerted on it by the mass of said material already in the chamber. The filament or yarn, or more exactly each individual filament comprising said yarn, bends over first in one direction and then in the other direction forming a design similar to accordion pleating. I have found that this bending which is characterized by very short distances d between bends a always takes place at right angles to the plane of the feed rolls. I refer to bends thus formed as a first series of bends.

A second series of bends or folds f are formed by folding of the filament or yarn after it is bent with said first series of bends. The incoming filament or yarn is first bent into the small lengths d by bends a of said first series of bends, and is then bent or folded (Figure 12) by bends f at distances governed by the cross sectional dimensions of the space into which it is fed by the feed rolls, which, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, is the rectangular bore 32 of front saddle 30. The folds f are largely unfolded when the yarn leaves the crimping chamber but their presence within the chamber contributes to the formation of bends a at different distances along the individual filaments.

I have found that thick yarn, as for example tow, tends to fold at right angles to the plane of the feed rolls, as shown herein in Figure 11, and is therefore controlled by the vertical cross sectional dimension of the said bore 32 in the front saddle. However, for a single filament, or for narrow or particularly flexible filament yarn, the folds f tend to form on a plane parallel to the axis of the feed rolls, as shown in Figure 3 of my said co-pending application, in which case the distance between said secondary bends is controlled by the width of said bore 32 of the front saddle.

I have found it is a definite advantage to form the bore of the front saddle with a rectangular cross section.

If the cross section of the space in which the folding occurs is circular, lengths between folds f, especially when disposed in a plane parallel to the axis of the rolls, tend to become wedged between the rolls and the roll contact surface of the front saddle. By providing a passage with a rectangular cross section the wedging action is avoided, probably due to the square corners of the space and the fact that the space between opposite walls remains uniform (except for the slight taper of the passage) for any vertical cross through the space.

I have obtained very satisfactory results crimping nylon of 200 denier using a device in which the distance from the feed rolls to the discharge rolls is approximately 2%. inches and the rectangular portion of the chamber is inch long and the portion of the chamber which is of greatest cross sectional area is A inch wide and inch high.

The filament or yarn being crimped may desirablybe treated, in accordance with the nature of the particular yarn, to cause said bends to be set thereby providing the filament or yarn with a permanent crimp. It is known to heat some continuous filaments and to subject others to fluid treatment to render them more readily bendable. A preferred form of heat treatment is illustrated herein. In dealing with thermoplastic yarn I prefer to heat the entire block comprising the housing, as, for example, by means of the heaters 124 inserted within vertical bores 126 and 128 provided therefor within the housing block. Said bores are shown with internal grooves 129. Any known heating means may be employed. I have obtained very successful results using small tubular electric heaters such for example as those commercially available under the name Chromolux. By means of the heaters sufficient temperature is imparted to the housing or block including the feed rolls and the interior of the passage defined by the bores of said members 26, 30 and 34, to facilitate the formation in the filament or yarn of both bends a and folds f. This is accomplished in the preferredembodiment of the invention'illustrated herein, by a flattening as well as a softening of the incoming filament or filament yarn between, and by contact with, the feed rolls. As the filament or yarn is discharged from the said passage by discharge rolls 22 and 24 and passes out of contact with the heated housing it becomes speedily cooled and bends a are set.

If it is desired to introduce treating fluid into the housing the selected fluid may be introduced at the bottom of said bores 126 and 128. Said bores may be internally grooved to receive closing plugs, as indicated in Figure 2, or the externally grooved couplings of fluid conduits. Even if electrical heating units such as 124 are installed in said bores fluid from said conduits will flow spirally upwardly within said grooves 129 and around said electric heating units. As shown in Figures 2, 3, 7 and 8, passages 130 and 132 are provided in the wall of the front saddle communicating respectively between said bores 126 and 128 and the rectangular space 32 defined by the bore of said front saddle. Through said passages fluid, which may have been previously heated, or heated while passing up through bores 126 and 128, may be introduced into the space 32 Where both bends a and folds f are being formed in an incoming filament or filament yarn, from opposite sides of said space. The fluid may thus be brought into intimate contact with the filament or filament yarn.

A crimp, as the term is used herein, means a length of the yarn comprising two bends. The distance between successive bends is a function of the force resisting the feed of the yarn or in other words the greater the back pressure within the space into which the yarn is fed the greater the number of bends of the first series. As stated above the amount of back pressure depends upon the relative speeds of the feed and discharge rolls. I have found that for 200 denier nylon yarn a ratio of one revolution of the discharge rolls for 200 of the feed roll-s gives a good crimp; a ratio of to l give-s a coarse crimp and a ratio of 250 to 1 gives a fine crimp. The number of crimps desired will depend of course upon the material being treated and the use desired. I have obtained very satisfactory results within the range of 20 to 150 or 200 crimps per inch, which, as explained above, is equivalent to 40 to 300 or 400 bends per inch. For each different material treated it is necessary to regulate the speed ratio between the feed and discharge rolls after determining the number of crimps desired per inch.

The crimped filament or filament yarn is discharged slowly but continuously in tightly packed folded condition, from the discharge port of the crimping chamber which is the space defined by the width of the bore of the rear saddle at its rear extremity which is along the plane joining the centers of said rolls, and the vertical distance between the discharge rolls. Upon leaving the discharge rolls the filament or yarn may be desirably advanced at accelerated speed thus taking up the slack in the filament or yarn, but without destroying said first series of bends which have now become set.

It is customary in the formation of yarn comprising synthetic filaments to twist with a low twist, say one turn per inch, a number of filaments extruded simultaneously from the same spinnerette. These synthetic filaments are characterized by their straightness, and usually also by the smoothness of their surfaces. They lie together in substantially parallel closely disposed relation leaving substantially no voids or air spaces such as are ordinarily present in, and give fullness to, yarns made up of short fibers. By the process and apparatus disclosed herein I am able to obtain a yarn comprising two or more continuous synthetic filaments which define between themselves voids giving fullness which is altogether lacking in such a yarn when formed. In a yarn comprising two or more synthetic filaments treated in accordance with my invention the filaments will not be disposed in close parallel relation, but instead lengths of said filaments at equal longitudinal distances along the yarn will be disposed in angular relation one to the other thus defining voids or spaces giving fullness to the yarn.

The process and apparatus disclosed herein have the advantages of providing for continuous treatment of synthetic filamentary material, in apparatus of minimum size, which in its preferred form is easily heated and may be used to heat thermoplastic filaments by direct contact of the synthetic filamentary material with the feed rolls and crimping chamber walls; which is flexible and readily adjustable for different sizes of synthetic filaments or filament yarns, with simple and practicable means provided for maintaining resilient pressure on the front saddle to prevent fouling the apparatus by inadvertent squeezing of the filament or yarn between the feed rolls and the outside of the front saddle; and by apparatus disclosed herein there may be obtained synthetic filaments of new and improved kind, giving to yarn comprising them a fullness heretofore lacking in yarns comprising synthetic filaments.

In Figures 13 and 14 there is illustrated a modification of the device shown and described above. The device, identified generally as a, and which desirably may be a substantially solid block of heat conductive material, is shown provided with a plurality of passages for the treatment simultaneously of a plurality of filamentary yarns; a single well or chamber for the reception of heating means is provided intermediate said plurality of passages; and space, as for example in the form of slots, is provided within the housing through which the incoming yarns may be led to the feed rolls through an extended passage thus providing a convenient and efficient way for preheating or otherwise pretreating the filamentary yarns before they reach the feed rolls. It will be noted that as illustrated in Figures 13 and 14 the filamentary yarns do not enter the device from directly in front of the feed rolls but instead travel through two reaches within the slots respectively provided for them and which communicate with the space or bore in the block or housing for the upper feed roll and are thus guided partly around said upper feed roll into the nip between the feed rolls.

The elements of Figures 13 and 14 which are the same as those shown in the preceeding figures are identified with the same numerals used in connection with the preceeding figures. Since the passages illustrated in Figures 13 and 14 are not the same as the single passage shown in the embodiment of the invention described in connection with Figures 1 to 12 inclusive, inasmuch as they do not extend in a straight line entirely through the housing, they are identified by the numerals 140 and 142 respectively.

For convenience, the space within the housing containing the upper and lower feed rolls 18 and 20 and the front saddle is hereinafter referred to as a first chamber, and the space containing the rear saddle and the discharge means is referred to as a second chamber. Each of said passages 140 and 142 comprises a first chamber providing space for feed roll means and for a front saddle and a second chamber providing space for a rear saddle and for discharge means. Since these passages begin at the nip of the feed rolls and extend rearwardly no yarn guides such as 26 (see Figures 9, 10 and 3) are employed. Spaces or grooves g (see Figure 14) are provided within the housing communicating the upper feed roll 18 and guides p, which may be rollers, are provided in said slots respectively so that a plurality of yarns y may be passed simultaneously into the housing and through an extended path Within the housing around guides p respectively to said feed roll 18, and may thus have been subjected to a period of preheating or other pre-treatment before coming into contact with said feed roll. 18. The yarns pass partly around roll 18 and between rolls 18 and 20 into the said passages 140 and 142 respectively, each of said passages having therein the front saddle 30a, the

8 rear saddle 34a, and the means for pressing said saddles forwardly against the feed rolls as has been described in connection with Figures 1 to 12.

The single well or chamber 144 for the reception of heating means, such for example as a heater 124, is grooved With groove 145 for the introduction of fluid, if desired, and is interconnected with each of said passages and 142 by the conduits 146 and 143 respectively extending radially from the said Well or chamber 144-. While, in the case of thermoplastic filaments, heating with dry heat may be sufficient to render the filamentary material plastic for the crimping operation, and subsequent cooling may suffice to maintain the crimp in the yarns, treatment fluid may be introduced into both treatment passages or chambers through the grooving 145 provided in the wall of said chamber 144 for setting the crimp as, for example, by the introduction and deposit upon the filamentary yarns of resin in vapor form.

In Figures 15 and 16 I have shown a modification of the front saddle. This modified form I have identified as 30a. The modification consists in setting back the upper and lower edges 154 and 156, defining the mouth of the passage through the front saddle, relative to the wall portions defining the ends of said mouth. As a result, the wall portions defining the ends of said mouth constitute tapered projections and 152 which, by coming into contact with the peripheries of the feed rolls 18 and 20 respectively, in the neighborhood of the bite between said rolls, prevent contact of the upper and lower edges 154 and 156 of the saddle mouth and the adjoining portions of the upper and lower curved and outwardly flaring surfaces of said front saddle 30a respectively with the substantially similarly curved peripheries of said feed rolls 18 and 20 respectively leaving the spaces 160 and 162 between the said forward portions of the curved surfaces of the saddle and the peripheries of the feed rolls respectively. edly good results in preventing filaments from becoming wedged between the curved surfaces of the saddle and the peripheries of said feed rolls. Apparently the provision of the spaces between the forward portions of the curved surfaces of the saddle and the peripheries of the feed rolls respectively lessens the frictional pull on the filaments, tending to wedge them between the said curved surfaces and the feed rolls, permitting them to travel freely into the internal passage of the saddle through its mouth 158.

In Figures 17 and 18 and 19 another modification of the front saddle and feed rolls is shown. In this modification the upper feed roll 168 is grooved with grooves 170 and 172 and the lower feed roll 174 is grooved with the grooves 176 and 178 which are positioned in vertical alignment with the grooves 170 and 172 respectively thus providing the spaces 180 and 182 (Figure 17) between said feed rolls.

The walls of the front saddle 30b defining the sides of the mouth of the passage through the saddle are extended in the direction of the feed rolls and these extended side walls 184 and 186 project into the spaces 18% and 182 respectively provided between the feed rolls by complementary grooves 170, 176 and 172, 178. The side wall extensions 184 and 186 extend in the direction of the feed rolls substantially further than the upper and lower edges 154a and 156a of the saddle mouth. Being contained within said spaces 180 and 182 said extensions 184 and 186 space the upper and lower edges 154a and 156a, defining the mouth of the saddle passage, from the feed rolls sufliciently to provide clearance between the upper and lower curved surfaces of the saddle and the peripheries of the feed rolls, leaving the spaces 188 and 198 between the said curved surfaces of the saddle and the peripheries of the feed rolls respectively.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this invention a method, apparatus, and an article in which the various objects hereinabove set forth together I find that this structure gives unexpectwith many thoroughly practical advantages are successfullyachieved. As various possible embodiments might be made of the mechanical features of the above invention and as the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. Crimping apparatus for filamentary material comprising a substantially solid block of heat conductive material having therein a first chamber, means for feeding a length of filamentary material disposed in said'first chamber, said block having a slot communicating with said first chamber and through which a length of filamentary material may be led through an extended path to said feeding means in said first chamber, a second chamber within said block communicating with said first chamber to receive a length of filamentary material from said feeding means, said second chamber having a port for discharge of filamentary material, means for regulating the rate of material discharge from said second chamber, and a third chamber in said block for the reception of means for heating said block.

2. The device claimed in claim 1 in which means are provided for leading said length of filamentary material through said slot in advance of being led to said feeding means.

3. The device claimed in claim 1 in which said block is slotted with a plurality of slots each communicating with said first chamber, for supplying simultaneously a plurality of lengths of filamentary material to said feeding means and a plurality of second chambers are provided within said block for receiving and separately treating said lengths received from said feeding means.

4. The device claimed in claim 1 in which two second chambers are provided and said third chamber for the reception of heating means is positioned between said two second chambers.

5. The device claimed in claim 4 including passages communicating between said third chamber and said second chambers respectively for supplying treating fluid to said second chambers through said third chamber.

6. The device claimed in claim 3 in which said means for supplying filamentary material into said second chambers respectively comprises a pair of rolls, and said lengths of filamentary material are simultaneously led into said chambers respectively, between said rolls along paths substantially equally spaced on opposite sides of the longitudinal midpoint of said rolls.

7. The device claimed in claim 1 in which the said chamber for heating means serves also for introducing treating fiuid into said second chamber.

8. Apparatus for crimping continuous filaments comprising a housing having a passage therein, a pair of feed rolls positioned to feed filaments into said passage, 8. tubu- 10 lar member positioned within said passage, said member having adjacent one end oppositely curved opposite surfaces terminating in a slot-like mouth, and means for yieldingly urging said tubular member toward said feed rolls to bring the mouth of said member into close proximity to the bite between said feed rolls, the upper and lower edges defining said mouth being set back relative to the wall portions defining the ends of said mouth to provide spaces between the said curved surfaces of said member and the peripheries of said feed rolls.

9. In a device of the kind described, a front saddle comprising a tubular member having curved upper and lower surfaces converging toward its front end defining a mouth which is wide relative to its height to permit the front end of said member to extend close to the bite bebetween a pair of feed rolls, the portions of the front end of said tubular member defining said mouth projecting for- 1 wardly beyond the front edges of said curved upper and lower surfaces respectively to provide clearance between said curved upper and lower surfaces and the peripheries of said feed rolls respectively.

10. In apparatus of the kind described in combination with a pair of feed rolls a saddle having a passage extending through it longitudinally and means for urging said saddle into the bite between said feed rolls, the end of said saddle proximate to said feed rolls comprising curved and outwardly flaring upper and lower surfaces and means spacing said surfaces from the peripheries of said feed rolls respectively when said saddle is operatively positioned with respect to said feed rolls.

11. The apparatus claimed in claim 8 in which the side walls of said member are extended forwardly beyond the front edges of said curved upper and lower surfaces respectively of said member, and the feed rolls are provided with opposed pairs of slots defining spaces into which the extended side walls of said member project.

12. Crimping apparatus for filamentary material comprising a treatment chamber, means for heating said chamber with dry heat, means for supplying filamentary material into said chamber at one speed, and means for removing the material from said chamber at a ditferent speed, said means for supplying filamentary material including a pair of rollers and means for mounting said rollers so that one of said rollers is yieldingly urged toward the other, tubular means within said treatment chamber and adjustable means for tensioning said tubular means in the direction of the nip of said rollers, the body of said tubular means being circular in cross section but having an entrance opening which is substantially rectangular.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,500,690 Lannan Mar. 14, 1950 2,505,618 Hammerle Apr. 25, 1950 2,575,781 Barach Nov. 20, 1951 2,734,228 Hay Feb. 14, 1956 

